Iran says Oman deal on strait is near but sets US conditionsUS must pay compensation, Iranian foreign ministerTrump says United States is ‘low-keying it’ against Iran while ‘semi-negotiating’<\/p>\n
DUBAI\/WASHINGTON\/CAIRO, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the \u200bU.S. must meet other conditions, including compensation and an end to sanctions and military threats, before the strategic waterway is reopened.<\/p>\n
A U.S. official told Reuters on \u200cFriday<\/a> that Iran and Oman were close to a deal that could pave the way for restoring safe passage through the strait, a major conduit for oil and gas shipping before Iran blocked Hormuz in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks<\/a> on Tehran that began in late February.<\/p>\n Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday an agreement with Oman on the strait was in its “final stages” but reiterated comments made on Saturday that \u200bTehran would not reopen <\/a>the channel unless the U.S. met certain demands made by Tehran.<\/p>\n The deal with Iran would set out the new shipping lanes to be used once \u200bthe U.S. fulfils those conditions and the strait is reopened, Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n Iran and the U.S. are not \u2060engaged in direct talks, and Tehran will not start them as long as Washington breaches an interim deal signed in June, Araqchi said, adding that messages were being exchanged through intermediaries.<\/p>\n U.S. \u200bPresident Donald Trump said in an interview with Axios that the U.S. was “low-keying” it with Iran. “We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and \u200bthe fact they have no money.”<\/p>\n CONDITIONS INCLUDE COMPENSATION<\/p>\n Araqchi said reopening the strait would depend in part on the U.S. paying compensation for damage it caused in widespread attacks on Iran.<\/p>\n The secretary of Iran’s top national security body, Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, also listed ending further U.S. threats against Iran; halting aggression toward Iran and its Lebanese, Palestinian<\/a>, Yemeni<\/a> and Iraqi allies; removing a U.S. naval blockade in the Gulf; lifting sanctions on Iran; and \u200breleasing frozen Iranian assets.<\/p>\n The United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran more than five months ago. Trump has said the attacks were aimed at keeping the Islamic Republic \u200bfrom developing nuclear weapons and degrading its ability to threaten the region.<\/p>\n Item 1 of 2 Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 3, 2026. REUTERS\/Stringer<\/p>\n [1\/2]Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 3, 2026. REUTERS\/Stringer Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab<\/a>Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in June, but the U.S. reimposed a blockade<\/a> on Iranian shipping in the Gulf in July, a \u200cmove that \u2060Tehran said violated the truce, which by then had already broken down.<\/p>\n “Once the deal is announced to restore commercial shipping without impediments, the United States will lift the blockade of Iranian ports,” the U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n U.S. actions would be tied to Iran’s implementation of its commitments, the official said.<\/p>\n The U.S. comments indicated delicate sequencing toward a deal that sources had told Reuters appeared to be set to give Tehran control<\/a> over vessel traffic entering the Gulf through the strait, which shippers have said<\/a> was not easily workable.The United Arab Emirates said \u200bon Saturday that Iran had attacked a ship<\/a> affiliated \u200bwith its state oil company. There \u2060was no immediate comment from Iran, whose Revolutionary Guard Corps previously has attacked ships that it said tried to cross the strait without Iranian permission.HOUTHIS ATTACK SAUDI REFINERY<\/p>\n Iranian strikes on Strait of Hormuz shipping have been coupled with increased attacks by its Yemen-based allies, the Houthi rebels, \u200bwho have targeted ships at another oil chokepoint on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula between the Red Sea and Gulf \u200bof Aden.<\/p>\n The Houthis also \u2060declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month in response to what they said was a Saudi siege on them in Yemen, an allegation denied by Riyadh, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government.<\/p>\n The Yemeni rebel group said they had attacked Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery on Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact<\/a> with Sunni Muslim allies Turkey and Pakistan \u2060in response \u200bto growing regional instability from the U.S.-Israeli war on Shi’ite Iran.The Saudi energy ministry said a fire had \u200bbroken out at the refinery<\/a> but was later extinguished with no injuries and authorities were dealing with the incident, without giving a cause.<\/p>\n Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the new alliance was not directed against Iran or any other country, \u200bbut rather served as a general pledge to support security.<\/p>\n Reporting by Nayera Abdullah, Steve Holland and Enas Alashray: Writing by Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Barbara Lewis and Nick Zieminski<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n